Portable power-operated tool for railroads



1,sss,194 E. A. EVERETT PORTABLE POWER-OPERATED TOOL FOR RAIL RO AP'S Filed Aug; 4,1923 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

f Sept.- 29, 1925. I

E. A. EVERETT PORTABLE POWER OPERATED TOOL FOR RAILROADS Filed Aug. 4, 1923 3 Sheets Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 29, 1925.

UNITED STATES EDWARD A. EVERETT, OF NEW YORK, Y.

PORTABLE POWER-OPERATED TOOL FOR RAILBOADS.

Application filed August 4, 1923.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD A. EVERETT, a citizen of the United States, and resident of 178 Fifth Ave, New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Portable Power-Operated Tools for Railroads, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to portable power operated tools for use on railroads in the construction and maintenance of the track and has for an object to provide a power unit which can readily be used by one person, that is light, portable and easily moved along the track as the operator proceeds in his work. Further objects are to provide a power unit which is self contained, has a low centre of gravity, can be moved along the tracks with equal facility in either direction, can be partially disassembled to economize space, that will operate a plurality of tools at the same time; and a power operated unit which is free from obstruction so that the connections to the tools can be short and direct, and a power unit which operates a tool by rotary motion and which operates a reciprocating member at varying speeds. The power unit is constructed so that it can be removed from the track by the pilot of alocomotive thereby avoiding danger of derailing a train. These and other objects of the invention will be more particularly understood from the following specification and the accompanying drawings in which, Fig. 1, is a plan view of a railroad track with a power operated unit constructed according to my invention in place; Fig. 2 is an elevation corresponding to Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a plan view of another form of my invention in which pneumatic power is used and Fig. 4 is an elevation corresponding to Fig. 3. Fig. 5 shows the detailed construction of the frame of the carriage which runs on the track and as used in one form of my invention; Figs. 6, 7 and 8 show the details of the construction of the carriage frame; Fig. 9 shows one form of connection that may be used to connect the tool with the motor, Fig. 10 is a detail of the flexible shaft for operating the tool; Fig. 11 shows a reciprocating member operated by the flexible shaft; Figs. 12 and 13 show another form of carriage made from tubing for supporting the power unit; Fig.

Serial No. 655,791.

l-l is another form of power operated tool in which the power unit is built into the operating handle of the tool, Fig. 15 is a side elevation corresponding to Fig. 14 and F 16 is a detail of the mechanism.

The use of power operated tools as labor savers on railroads is highly desirable and has led to the introduction of pneumatic tools for tamping ties, drilling rails, etc. These tools, as heretofore applied, have been operated by heavy power units placed on a hand car and pushed along the track by a gang of men. If the tracks are to be used for trafiic, the hand car must be removed to a side track or to the bank and from this location the tools are operated by long air lines or by electric cables. This apparatus is obviously useable only when a gang of men are available to handle the power unit and the extended connections to the tools are a source of danger and annoyance on the track which are liable to be run over by a passing train and which, owing to their length consume a considerable portion of the power intended to operate the tool.

The present invention is directed to the use of a portable source of power in small units sufficient to operate one or two tools. This power unit is mounted upon a carriage which rolls along the track close to the operator so that a short flexible connection such as will enable the operator to work across the track is sufficient. The power unit is mounted upon a frame of light construction so that it may easily be removed from the track and replaced again by one person; it is thus always available as it rolls along the track to supply power close to the point of its use and the tracks can be cleared Without interrupting or flagging traflic. In the preferred form the source of power is a gasolene engine and the tool is operated by a flexible rotating shaft connected with the fly wheel of the engine thus reducing the apparatus and the cost to a minimum. The engine sets vertically on the car 'iage so that the entire structure has a fairly low centre of gravity. The engine is unobstructed where the flexible connect-ions are made so that these connections may extend in any direction without fouling with parts of the engine or carriage.

The tool comprises a reciprocating member operated by a crank connected with the flexible shaft and which operates as a hammer. This member is off-centered with relation to the centre of the crank so as to give it a rapid downward motion and which is applied through a spring.

Referring to the drawings, 11 and 12 are the track rails and 13 represents the cross ties. In Fig. 1, the carriage comprises the triangular frame 15 to the base of which the rollers 17 and 18 are pivoted and perpendicular to this base the bar 16 extends across the track supporting roller 19 which is centrally disposed with reference to rollers 17 and 18; the carriage will thus roll along the track rails with equal facility in either direction.

Upon the triangular frame 15 the motor 20 is mounted to the shaft of which the flexible connection 21 is connected on one side and the flexible connection 22 extends on the opposite side. It will be noted from Fig. 2 that the motor sets vertical without any surrounding obstructions and the point of the connections with the motor shaft is above the rollers. This enables the connections 21 and 22 to reach the operating tool in the most direct course and makes practical the use of a rotating shaft for operating the tool.

The tool as illustrated consists of a tamping bar 23 having a point 25, a rotary mechanism enclosed by casing 24 and a spade handle 26 by which the tool is directed. The mechanism in casing 24 is connected with the flexible shaft 21 or 22 as desired or independent tools may be connected to each of these shafts.

In Figs. 3 and 4, the apparatus is modifled for the use of an air compressor and pneumatic tools operated therefrom. The gasolene motor 31 is mounted upon the frame 15 and by a suitable gear reduction 33 drives the air compressor 32 which is connected by pipe 34 with the receiver tank A hose 36 connects this tank with the pneumatic tamper 28 which is of a well known construction and need not be further described here. In this construction it will be noted that the units are small, the compressor being similar to the type used for pneumatic tires.

These machines are moved along the track by a pull on the flexible connection so that they follow the operator from place to place without any special attention 011 his part.

Figs. 5 to 8 inclusive show the detailed construction of the carriage as used in Figs. 1 and 3. The objects of this construction are to secure lightness and low cost. The triangular frame comprises the wooden arms 45, 46, and 47. At the apex they are braced by the plates 42 and 43 which leaves a space for the wooden bar 16 which is keyed in place by pin 44 and held in alignment by cleat 48 secured to 47. By withdrawing the pin 44, the bar 16 can be removed and the apparatus reduced to small compass. An off-set bracket 52, Fig. 8, is secured to the arms 45 and 46 and carries a pivot 51 for the rollers 17 and 18. This bracket, it will be noted, is bent upwards so as to increase the elevation of the carriage when small rollers are used. Where the rollers or wheels are large enough to raise the carriage without this offset a construction such as shown for roller 19 may be used. A ipe railing 41 is provided as a convenient means for removing the machine from the track.

Attention is here called to the fact that these machines are designed to set comparatively low on the track andwith a comparatively low centre of gravity so as to minimize vibration from the engine; however, their operation on a carriage with high wheels can be satisfactorily obtained. It is important that the base of the carriage be on a higher plane than the pilot of a locomotive so that the pilot engaging the carriage from below will raise the machine from the track and clear the way. It should be noted, however, that the lightly constructed frame can be demolished by a locomotive without serious damage to the latter.

The flexible shaft may be attached to the engine or to the tool by a spline as shown in Fig. 9. The fly wheel is indicated at 55 running on the bearing 56. The flexible shaft 57 is splined to the end of the flywheel shaft as shown and is protected by the covering 58 secured by a thimble 59 to bearing 56. These connections should be constructed so that they can be quickly removed and replaced.

The mechanism of the tamping tool 0 erated by the flexible shaft is illustrated 1n Fig. 11 in which the crank 62 rotates in the casing 24 and by the pitman 63 raises and lowers the plunger 64 which performs the operation of a hammer on the tamping tool 25. t will be noted that the plunger 64 is off-centered from the crank 62 so that as the crank rotates in the direction of the arrow the lunger moves downward at a greater speed than it moves upward.

The crank 62 is driven by a. flexible rotary connection from the power unit asshown in detail in Fig. 10. This connection is, preferably, of the coil spring type as indicated at 61. arranged to rotate in the flexible covering 58. An important feature of my invention is embodied in this con struction by the use of an elastic drive between the engine and the crank. The construction and length of the flexible connection is such that the resistance of the clownward stroke of the plunger 64 will retard the crank 62 to approximately the extent of one half turn of the fly wheel lVhcn, however. the crank turns the dead centre this additional tension on the drive is released and used to move the crank rapidly on the return bringing the plunger with it and thereby increasing the momentum for the operating stroke. On the next downward stroke the resistance again stores up part of the torque from the engine in the rotating shaft and the operation is repeated for each revolution. The torsion on the driving shaft, the weight, resistance and speed should be adjusted relative to each other so that the tool will produce a succession of sharp rapid blows corresponding to a pneumatic hammer.

In Figs. 12 and 13 a: four wheeled carriage of tubular construction is illustrated which may be arranged to support one or two motors. The wheels of the carriage are indicated by 65 and 66, each pair of wheels being opposite on each rail. The wheels 65 are pivotally secured to the tube 67 and the wheels 66 are pivotally secured to tube 68. Tubes 67 and 68 are connected by the cross rails 69 and 70. These cross rails may be bent upwards as shown in Fig. 13 where elevation is desired. The motor 71 is secured to the cross rails 69 and by hook bolts at 72 as indicated. The motor can be positioned anywhere along these rails. In Fig. 13 a pair of mot-ors'are shown on the carriage at 7 3 and 74. These motors have shafts 75 and 7 6 to which the flexible drive is connected.

The tool shown in Figs. 14 and 15 is provided with a very light motor 81 having cylinders 82 and 83 and a fly-wheel 84 directly connected with the mechanism encased by 85. A gasolene tank is indicated at 94 and in addition, the upper end of the handle may be used for the same purpose.

The shaft of the engine 81 drives the arm 86 which, through compression spring 87 drives disc 89 and, by connection 90, operates the plunger 91 for the same purpose as plunger 64. It will be noted that there is a lost motion connection between 86 and 89 where the spring 87 is interposed. When 89 passes the dead centre, the tension on spring 87 is released and plunger 91 is raised by the energy stored in spring 87 as well as by the rotation of the engine. This gives an added momentum to the plunger 91 and the disc 89, which, when the spring is properly adjusted with relation to the weight, increases the speed and force of the next downward movement. This arrangement is the equivalent of the arrangement shown in 10 and described above.

A tool of this type has the advantage that it may be placed flat on the ground between the rails or at the side of the track and be out of the way of passing trains.

Tools of the type described embody one of the mostconvenient methods of using power to supplement human effort in railroad construction work.

Having thus described my invention, I claim: I

1. A portable power operated tool for railway tracks of the class described comprising a low carriage with a self-contained power generator mounted on top of said carriage arranged to move along the track on wheels, a tool. for operating progressively upon said track, a flexible connection of limited length between said generator and said tool. said carriage arranged to be moved along said track as the work progresses by tension on said flexible connection and without restricting the free use of said tool when said carriage is moving.

2. In a portable power operated tool for railway tracks of the class described, the combination of a low carriage with a selfcontained power generator mounted on top of said carriage arranged to move along the track on wheels, a reciprocating tool having a member for operating upon said track and a flexible connection between said generator and said member for operating said tool and for moving said carriage on the track.

3. A portable power operated tool for railway tracks of the class described comprising a carriage with a self-contained power generator arranged to move along the track on wheels, a tool having an element for operating on said track, a flexible rotary connection between said generator and said element, said flexible connection being capable of storing and releasing part of the torsion from said motor.

4. A portable power operated tool for railway tracks of the class described comprising a carriage with a motor arranged to move along the track on wheels, a tool having a rotary member operating a reciprocating element for working on said track an extended handle for supporting said tool and for directing said element and a flexible connection between said motor and said rotary member whereby said element is operated and said carriage is moved along said track.

5. A portable power operated tool for railway tracks of the class described comprising a low carriage with a self-contained power generator mounted on top of said carriage arranged to move along the track, a reciprocating tool for operating upon saidv track, a short, flexible connection between said generator and said tool so arranged that said carriage may be moved along said track while said generator is running by applying tension to said connection and without restricting the free use of said tool when said carriage is moving.

6. A portable power operated tool for railway tracks of the class described comprising a frame mounted upon rollers to roll upon the track, a motor mounted upon and extending above the plane of said frame, a tool for operating upon said track a flexible,

neetion Without restricting the free use of said tool.

7.. A portable power operated tool for railway tracks of the class described com prising a frame mounted upon rollers to roll upon the track, a vertical gasolene motor mounted upon said frame and arranged with its centre of gravity close to the track, a reciprocating tool for operating upon said track a flexible connection between said motor and said tool so arranged that said frame may be rolled upon the track by tension on said connection Without restricting the free use of said tool.

8. A portable power operated tool for railway tracks of the class described comprising alight power unit mounted to roll upon the track, a reciprocating tool for operating upon said track, a handle for manually directing said tool, a cranl; for operat-;

by said tool is operated and said power unit is moved along track,

9. In a movable railway power device, in combination a, frame; spaced? supporting wheels revolvably attached to the frame and arranged so that they may rest on the spaced rails of a railway track; a self-contained power generating device on the frame; a manually ositioned but power operated tool; a flexible power transmitting connection between the generator device and the tool of suificient strength to enable the wheel supported frame, to be moved along the rails by tension thereon.

Signed at New York in the county of New York and State of New York this, 31st day of July A. D. 1923.

EDWA DA.EVERETT, 

